Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases 25,227 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 52.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 73,748 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 25,227 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $6,802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEP. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 10,177.1% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,982,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,154 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 109.5% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,125 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,760,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,954 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,866,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the third quarter worth about $80,207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $103.09 on Thursday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.16 and a 12-month high of $105.18. The company has a market capitalization of $54.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 66.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AEP shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on American Electric Power from $108.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank lowered American Electric Power from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on American Electric Power from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.00.

American Electric Power Company Profile

American Electric Power Company, Inc, an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments.